Gubernatorial candidate Marty Seifert made several campaign stops in the Brown County area last week.

Seifert is looking to win the GOP primary Aug. 12 to advance on the ballot against Democratic Governor Mark Dayton.

Seifert completed an 87-county tour of Minnesota, making him the first candidate for statewide office to travel to every Minnesota county personally in the 2014 race. Seifert fulfills a promise he made when announcing his candidacy in late 2013, to travel across the state and meet people from small towns to big cities and everywhere in-between. Seifert is rotating his time evenly between the metropolitan and rural areas in his quest for the Governor’s office. The other gubernatorial candidates, he said, will likely be focusing their efforts on the metro area.

Seifert says he has heard about many important issues affecting Minnesotans during his tour, including regional issues and issues of national importance.

Rural Minnesota, specifically Brown County, is important to Seifert, who was born and raised on a farm north of Springfield. He has worked as a public school teacher, university admission counselor, real estate agent, small business owner and most recently, executive director of a hospital foundation in Marshall.

More importantly, Seifert said, rural Minnesota is where he can win, but only if people vote. He encourages all eligible voters to vote in the Primary Election on Aug. 12.

Minnesota voters can request an absentee ballot online at www.MNVotes.org

“There’s no longer a reason not to vote,” Seifert noted. “There are lots of opportunities.”

Seifert has had the opportunity to distribute promotional pieces for himself for Governor and Pam Myhra for Lt. Governor. Seifert says if he is elected he plans to reduce taxes and eliminated three cabinet agencies while abolishing the unelected Metropolitan Council, as well as reduce energy costs by repealing the Next Generation Energy Act. Seifert plans to reform the health care system to give Minnesotans more choices for health coverage at more affordable rates. He will fight unaffordable light rail projects and prioritize roads and bridges with transportation funding. He and Myhra are strong advocates for the Second Amendment and pro-life.

District 16B State Rep Paul Torkelson and District 16 Sen. Gary Dahms recently offered their public endorsement of Seifert.

Torkelson and Dahms are encouraging the voters of southern Minnesota to vote for Seifert in the Aug. 12 primary election.

“Our area is lucky to have a statewide candidate for governor with real-life experience and Minnesota values that Marty Seifert brings to the table,” said Torkelson. “From his time on the family farm to working in his community as a public school teacher, small business owner and popular legislator, Marty Seifert would serve all Minnesotans as a fantastic governor we can all be proud of.”